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ABove our heads turn on a fiery furnace: the sun turns and boils, with plasma streaks pulling thousands of kilometers from its surface and withdrawing like a founded rain. But detailed observations of the incessant activity in the atmosphere of the sun, called his crown, were impossible to collect from the earth, except during solar eclipses. So far.
Astronomers recently recorded the most detailed images of the tumultuous crown of the sun. By using advanced optics, they were able to eliminate the atmospheric blur, caused by turbulence in the earth’s atmosphere, which had made the observation so difficult. They published their results this week Natural astronomy.
The videos were recorded using an adaptive optical system called Cona, which has a flexible mirror which can counter the degradation of the image caused by atmospheric turbulence. Cona is installed at the Solar Telescope Goode, which is operated by the Solar Solar Solar Research Center in California from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Adaptive optical systems like Cona, which have mirrors that can reshape thousands of times per second, have been used since the early 2000s to record crunchy and detailed images of the sun. But it is the first time that researchers have used such an approach to capture the vaporous majesty of the crown of the sun.
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These detailed observations can help scientists probe the enigmatic dynamics and the effects of the solar crown. The researchers observed coronal characteristics such as giant plasma spots called prominence, thorny projections called Spicules and massive plasma arcs called loops, but the details of their behavior and the effects they have on space time were difficult to identify.
The data they collect with the adaptive mirrors of Cona will help “lift the veil on the mysteries of the crown”, write the researchers, bringing news of our nearest star on earth.
Image of lead: The coronal rain is formed when the warmer plasma in the crown of the sun cools and becomes denser. Like drops of rain on earth, coronal rain is pulled on the surface by gravity. Because plasma is electrically loaded, it follows the magnetic field lines, which make huge arches and curls, instead of falling in a straight line. Credit: Schmidt et al. / Njit / nso / aura / nsf
